Barrister & Mann AMA, July 17th, 2016

Hi all,


First I'd like to thank Will of Barrister & Mann for taking the time to do an AMA (ask me anything) with the Damn Fine Shave community. Will has said that he'll be popping in and out of the forum throughout the day to answer questions that we have for him.

Please keep in mind that the questions that are asked NEED to follow our site rules. Failure to follow our rules will result in the removal of your post(s).

Check out Will and his Barrister & Mann products at: https://www.barristerandmann.com/




Thanks,

Andrew

These are my questions (all related to Barrister_N_Mann fragrances):

- what is the fragrance that took the longest time to be developed?
- Is there any (discontinued?) fragrance that you wish had been better received by the community?

Will, when, do you think, all of your soaps will be switched over to the glissant formula? Also, will there be any new scents coming in the Latha formulation?
My last question may be completely ridiculous so I shall apologize in advance but would there ever be a chance that you would delve into eau de toilettes? A Cheshire EdT, with a long lasting scent, would be wonderful. I am guessing that, if nothing else, cost constraints would make EdTs all but impossible to produce but, hey, hope springs eternal.

These are my questions (all related to Barrister_N_Mann fragrances):

- what is the fragrance that took the longest time to be developed?
- Is there any (discontinued?) fragrance that you wish had been better received by the community?

1) Tie between Le Grand Chypre and Night Music, though Roam was pretty high up there too.

2) Night Music and Anise & Vetyver. I loved them both.

I have a few questions, you might have answered one of them earlier in your thread but I can't find it:

1. Do you plan to have sample program on your website? Like one in Mystic Water?
2. What was your major in College?
3. Do you think soaps are generally better? Or they last longer? (I personally think not.)
4. And I asked you this earlier . Do you plan to bring some creams?

THanks

1) If you check the menu bar/navigation bar, there's a spot that says "Samples." It's a link to Maggard Razors and MenEssentials (it gives you a choice); they make samples for us. They grew to be too labor intensive to create ourselves.

2) Microbiology.

3) I don't, actually. I think that the choice is very much a matter of individual preference. The hard soaps might last longer, but it depends very much on the products being compared. I think it's a dramatic overgeneralization to say that one category is better or lasts longer than the other.

4) Eventually.

Will, when, do you think, all of your soaps will be switched over to the glissant formula?  Also, will there be any new scents coming in the Latha formulation?
My last question may be completely ridiculous so I shall apologize in advance but would there ever be a chance that you would delve into eau de toilettes?  A Cheshire EdT, with a long lasting scent, would be wonderful.  I am guessing that, if nothing else, cost constraints would make EdTs all but impossible to produce but, hey, hope springs eternal.

1) I had hoped to have the changeover done by September, but the problems with the jar seals have slowed the program down. I'd guess October, but it might be a bit later for Bay Rum. I'm trying to stockpile as much bay oil as possible, which is proving to be difficult and expensive.

2) Yes, we're planning to do a limited production scent every so often (last one was LPC, which was phased out with Rhapsody). Next one will be "Latha Soapy" (working title), which will be a classic clean scent like MWF, L'Occitane Lait, Institut Karite, etc.

3) I get that question a lot. The reason I haven't done anything with EdTs yet is that, if I do get into perfumes, I'd rather get into high perfume and really go all out. Create grand works of art with beautiful bottles and such. It's a long-term goal, and there would be a lot of money involved. I'm really trying to escape the "artisan" category, mostly because I feel that the term has become meaningless anyway (as a recent discussion on the forum has shown). But I really don't want to be considered an amateur anymore.

3) I get that question a lot. The reason I haven't done anything with EdTs yet is that, if I do get into perfumes, I'd rather get into high perfume and really go all out. Create grand works of art with beautiful bottles and such. It's a long-term goal, and there would be a lot of money involved. I'm really trying to escape the "artisan" category, mostly because I feel that the term has become meaningless anyway (as a recent discussion on the forum has shown). But I really don't want to be considered an amateur anymore.

Amateur? You? Never! (and I have a hunch there are quite a few members here at DFS, and beyond, who would agree with me. )

tokenaccount posted this on the announcement thread, so I'll answer them all here.

Umm, where is this thread?

Desired to interrogate Will

Seriously Will, do you own your holy grail items in each shave category?
If yes, what are they? (Pic's possible?)
If not, what are you still seeking?

If you had not gone down this path, in no particular order, who would be your top five shave soap companies/persons?

How long does it generally take for you to bring a new scent from idea to retail?
What about new products/formula's?
What percentage of idea's make it to production?

Have you ever sported serious facial hair to the point it's classified as a fully fledged beard?

Is the shave soap market for artisans over saturated?

Do you extend your generous discount to just American military, or all emergency and defence services world wide?

Last question...
What do you have in the idea's to pre production testing stages, which will blow us away?

Happy shaving buddy

1) I do, actually. The last piece of the puzzle was a razor that was durable enough to survive anything and that could give me an effortless shave every time. My Titanium Wolfman fits both criteria nicely.

2) Don't have any pics because the razor's on loan to someone else. It's the only thing I would really characterize as a "holy grail" item other than Barrister's Reserve, which I developed because the post-shave product I was looking for simply did not exist.

3) Oh, this is a tough question, largely because the community is so tightly-knit and I don't want anyone to feel snubbed. I think I'll stick with the commercial stuff because there are too many excellent artisan options to name.

In no particular order:

-Palmolive (cream and stick)
-Nivea (great products for an unbelievably low price)
-Truefitt & Hill (particularly the Ultimate Comfort cream)
-Nancy Boy (love their Replenishing cream, but all three scents are excellent)
-L'Occitane (Cade Rich is my top cream these days)

4) That depends very much on what it is. I'd say that these days it takes anywhere from three to six months, if not longer.

5) Well, Glissant took a year to develop, and Barrister's Reserve took double that time. It's not a rapid process if you want to do it properly.

6) Probably 10% of my fragrance ideas make it to production. I have notebooks full of concepts that were never developed, either because they would be prohibitively expensive, inordinately complicated, very weird (and thus likely not commercially viable), or just never made it out of the book.

7) Nope. I have very patchy facial hair. I'd look like a pedophile.

8) The artisan soap market is massively oversaturated. There is not enough of a customer base to support such a tremendous influx, and the larger companies are forced to constantly create new things (scents, bases, etc) in order to remain in the public eye. That's why we don't "just create a great signature scent and stick with it." We'd starve.

9) We do. Police, firefighters, EMTs, all armed forces, etc., here and abroad (within reason; I am not extending the discount to members of ISIS). My feeling is that, if you are willing to put your life on the line for such a cause, the least we can do is offer you a discount on some soap.

3) I get that question a lot. The reason I haven't done anything with EdTs yet is that, if I do get into perfumes, I'd rather get into high perfume and really go all out. Create grand works of art with beautiful bottles and such. It's a long-term goal, and there would be a lot of money involved. I'm really trying to escape the "artisan" category, mostly because I feel that the term has become meaningless anyway (as a recent discussion on the forum has shown). But I really don't want to be considered an amateur anymore.

Amateur? You? Never! (and I have a hunch there are quite a few members here at DFS, and beyond, who would agree with me. )

That's very kind, but, outside the community, there is still that perception that shaving soap artisans in the US are amateurs. It is what's preventing us from breaking into the mainstream market, I think.

3) I get that question a lot. The reason I haven't done anything with EdTs yet is that, if I do get into perfumes, I'd rather get into high perfume and really go all out. Create grand works of art with beautiful bottles and such. It's a long-term goal, and there would be a lot of money involved. I'm really trying to escape the "artisan" category, mostly because I feel that the term has become meaningless anyway (as a recent discussion on the forum has shown). But I really don't want to be considered an amateur anymore.

Amateur? You? Never! (and I have a hunch there are quite a few members here at DFS, and beyond, who would agree with me. )

+1

Hi Will, I am gutted that I am unable to have the new Barrister Reserve scents mailed over to Ireland from the US. However, I should be in Boston later on this Fall, so I hope to place an order to be sent to the hotel I will be staying in. My question for you is did your Microbiology/Science background helped you in any way to develop your ability to come up with the standard of products that you produce (base slickness, scent etc.)? If not, what inspires you to try out new formulations or do you go with a 'gut' instinct?

I hope all is well.

Kind regards,

Mark

Hi Will, I am gutted that I am unable to have the new Barrister Reserve scents mailed over to Ireland from the US. However, I should be in Boston later on this Fall, so I hope to place an order to be sent to the hotel I will be staying in. My question for you is did your Microbiology/Science background helped you in any way to develop your ability to come up with the standard of products that you produce (base slickness, scent etc.)? If not, what inspires you to try out new formulations or do you go with a 'gut' instinct?

I hope all is well.

Kind regards,

Mark

The chemistry part of my education was vaguely helpful, but cosmetic chemistry/soap chemistry are dramatically different than the kinds of chemistry you study in biology, so it wasn't as much of an aid as you might think. Pretty much everything I know about soap manufacture and fragrance chemistry is self-taught.

It's not really "gut instinct" so much as it is a specific quality that I am looking for. When developing something new, I have a very specific set of requirements. Until the product meets those requirements, it is not ready. If I can't figure out what's missing, I go back and dig out more information until I find the problem.

Barrister's Reserve was a lot like that. I had a LOT of requirements for it and there were production difficulties that had to be overcome, which is part of why it took so long to develop. It's being made by a third party manufacturer and laboratory, but I had already gone through about 40 drafts of the base formula before I even turned it over to them for work. I'm a perfectionist.